Transit News
January 29, 2008
Virginia Miller
(202) 496-4816
vmiller@apta.com
(Download In Adobe PDF format)
While addressing the country on the state of the economy, President Bush lost an opportunity to talk about how public transportation helps Americans save money, promotes energy independence, and reduces greenhouse gases.
With high gas prices, many Americans are feeling the pinch and using public transportation is one way that they can save money. President Bush talked about a plan to put more money in the average citizen’s pocket. What he failed to mention was that households that use public transportation save more than $6,200 every year, compared to a household with no access to public transportation. This is a significant amount of money and represents more than the average household pays for food each year.
While mentioning energy independence, President Bush failed to recognize that public transportation is part of the solution, saving 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline every year. This is the equivalent of 108 million cars filling up, almost 300,000 each day. One of the quickest ways to reduce our country’s dependence on oil is for people to use the public transportation system in their community. If public transportation was expanded so that more Americans could use public transit, this savings would grow and our national goal of realizing energy independence would be closer to being achieved.
Public transportation is more effective at reducing greenhouse gases than environmentally friendly household activities which everyone should do, such as home weatherizing, changing to efficient light bulbs, and using efficient appliances. An individual switching to public transit can reduce their daily carbon emissions by 20 pounds; that’s more than 4,800 pounds in a year. Compare this to:
Home weatherizing and adjusting the thermostat for heating and cooling saves 2,847 pounds of carbon per year. Transit use saves almost twice the carbon.
Replacing five incandescent bulbs to lower wattage compact fluorescent lamps saves 445 pounds of CO2 per year. Transit use saves more than ten times the CO2.
Replacing an older refrigerator freezer with a highly efficient one saves 335 pounds of CO2 per year. Taking public transportation saves more than fourteen times the carbon.
On behalf of the public transportation industry, I urge the president and future presidents to set a national agenda that includes expanding public transportation so more Americans will have more money in their pockets and our nation’s goals of oil independence and reduced greenhouse gases will have a greater chance to succeed.
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APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical public transportation services and products. APTA members serve more than 90 percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada.
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